The church might have closed its physical wooden doors but the congregation of the Christian faithful are ever closer spiritually to God with constant prayers and rosaries during the Holy Week.
Felix Vieira from Siolim is thankful to the priests who are his close friends and keeping him spiritually connected. “Priests who are tech savvy are sharing links of all the different holy services during Lent, like Way of the Cross, holy daily mass with spiritual communion prayer, adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, on TV channels. Goan church services are held in Konkani which helps us stay united in prayers indoors even though we miss our normal community prayers in church.
This lockdown has taught us that if you have a will to pray, there are ways to get into it too being indoors too. Through technolgy and creating a holy ambience in your homes too we follow church services online,” says Vieira.
Roshan Mathias from Candolim believes that accepting direction and instruction from the Church in these times of emergency are very much needed. “Observing Holy week has been a very fruitful experience. The ultimate desire of a Christian during the Holy week is to pray and experience the sorrowful journey of Christ with a hope of resurrection at Easter. This has been a very good opportunity as the Lockdown has kept us confined to our homes and, hence reducing all distractions. Live streaming through social media and TV channels have also been very helpful in directing the faithful with the themes and teaching on daily basis.
Herald has been in the forefront in ensuring that the masses ate streamed live on the HCN You Tube channel and on Facebook. Live links of the mass are also uploaded on the Herald’s Twitter handle.
Team Herald’s video journalists, with special arrangements, have been present at Our Lady of The Rosary Church Caranzalem, Panjim to film the Eucharistic Celebrations and services, taking all due health related precautions, as mandated. The Maundy Thursday mass was a big draw among the faithful and the same is likely to continue and increase for the live streaming of the Good Friday Service at 3 pm, the Easter Vigil on Saturday at 11.30 pm and Easter Sunday Mass ( in English) at 9 am.
Venita Freitas Fernandes is using this time to teach her children important life lessons. “The church doors have been closed for practical and safety reasons. But God is ever present everywhere. Being a mother of two toddlers and an infant, I am using every opportunity to teach the children how to make do with less. Maundy Thursday, we enacted the ‘washing of the feet’ at home, where my husband took the place of Jesus and washed our feet. This taught the children the virtues of humility and service.,” says Frias Fernandes.
Marius Fernandes is known as the Festakar but with the lockdown, he is spending quality time with his mother in Divar. “As I live with my elderly mum, Antonetta Fernandes, who has been observing Holy Week in the traditional way going back eighty eight years. This year, it gives us an opportunity to listen and observe Holy Week together and celebrate it by tuning into services across the world from listening to Vatican radio to turning to Mass in different languages. It also gave us an insight into how other nationalities and cultures observe this holy week” says Fernandes.
Marianela Gina is the founder of musical group Goenchim Noketra and is using her musical talent. She says, “Holy Week has always been very special and we never missed out on any of the church services especially during the Tridium. We have always actively participated, both physically and spiritually. We have formed a small church in our home. Thanks to technology, we are able to participate in the church services. Apart from that we sing a lot of hymns pertaining to the Lenten season. Tomorrow, we will sing Motets in the morning. This year has given us a reason to pray more for others than ourselves asking Jesus to heal the world.”
Selvyn Braganza from Merces plays the violin in the choir but this year will be observing the Holy Week with his family. “Although there is no access to the church, we have been participating in the mass shown on TV. This situation has taught me to live a simple and a prayerful life. I take this as an opportunity to pray and participate in the mass along with my family as I am always in the choir”, he says.
Donna Noronha feels the world has become one in prayer. She says, “I feel everyone has adapted to understanding that we have to find new ways to worship if we are called to social distancing for a long period of time. The whole world in the Christian faith is becoming one to bring healing to the land and it’s people.”
We will all miss the solemnity and beauty of the Holy Week in our Churches. The week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday has and will be sent by many in prayer, reflection and meditation from the confines of our homes. In the Churches and the seminaries, there will be Eucharistic celebrations culminating in the glorious celebration of Easter, behind closed doors.
